Compliance Information

Testing a vehicle’s braking performance and efficiency is an important road safety aspect of the annual DVSA roadworthiness check (MOT) test and mandatory preventative maintenance inspections (PMI). 

As part of a Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV - motor vehicles & trailers) annual test, the DVSA carries out a roller brake test according to the ISO brake testing standard (21069).

Under the ISO standard, vehicles presented for test must be fully laden, apart from a very few exceptions.

An appropriate amount of weight should be placed on the vehicle and/or trailer. This allows the Vehicle Standards Assessor to accurately carry out the test, as the grip between the tyre and the rollers is at its maximum. This allows the vehicle’s wheels to keep turning for longer and avoid premature lock ups. The brake actuation pressure will also be at its most effective, to determine a more meaningful assessment of the overall braking efficiency.

In most circumstances, to achieve this, vehicles must be loaded to at least 65% of their design axle weights with cargo, or loaded with ballast, to achieve this. The Goods Vehicle Plating and Testing Regulations 1988 (at regulation 8 (2) (k)) state that an examiner may refuse to accept a vehicle or trailer for test where it is not satisfactorily loaded.

Occasionally, due to the vehicle’s design this can be hard to achieve. In these cases, the DVSA would accept less the 65% but no lower the 50%.

Operators, or their third-party maintenance contractor, may load the vehicle themselves. or ask the Authorised Testing Facility (ATF) to supply ballast for use during the test, although there will normally be a charge for this service.

The load or ballast used for annual test must be safely secured on or in the vehicle. Otherwise, the test may be refused.

Since 1st January 2023, the DVSA have stated that vehicles/trailers presented for annual MOT must be appropriately laden.

A Vehicle Standards Assessor will refuse to test a vehicle which is not appropriately laden. This refusal will lead to the test fee being lost and the vehicle/trailer will need to re-present, correctly laden, with a further test fee charged.

Since the Bath tipper tragedy in 2014, the Traffic Commissioner's (TC’s) and the DVSA have stressed the importance on brake testing and the DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness (latest version published by the DVSA online on 18th April 2023) strongly advises and recommends that brake performance and efficiency checks are carried out by way of a roller brake test, as part of every PMI, with the vehicle/trailer loaded. 

In 2014, 3.3% of heavy goods motor vehicles failed their annual test on service brake performance. In the last quarter of 2021 that had reduced to 1.88%.

As it may not be practicable or safe to complete a PMI on a loaded vehicle/trailer, roller brake tests can be carried out separately to the PMI, but it is expected by the TC’s that the RBT is carried out within the week leading up to the PMI and that the RBT printout is signed off by the vehicle technician completing the RBT and the printout is attached to the PMI report if in hard copy, or scanned in and stored with electronically stored PMI reports and able to be printed off, if requested, by the relevant authority.  

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